Immigrant workers are propping up the dairy industry, a recruitment consultant warned yesterday.
Rob Stevenson, of ATRFegan, said a shortage of motivated dairy workers in the South Island was also causing some staff to be promoted too early, and some were being paid too much given their ability.
It was an employee's market at the moment, and while there were plenty of workers to fill vacancies many were not suitable for the positions, and there was pressure to look overseas for staff.
While the market would correct itself, there was pressure on employers to pay higher wages, and that was being resisted.
Some staff were earning higher wages because they were in positions above their skill level, and some staff working in the industry today were unlikely to have been employed two or three years ago.
But low unemployment and a rapidly growing industry meant employers had to seek staff and in some cases take whoever they could get.
This has resulted in employment opportunities for immigrants.
"They're playing a very large role. They come in at low to middle level on to a dairy farm, and their motivation to work on dairy farms is huge because they are able to build skills they would never be able to do in their home country, and they can support themselves and their family in their home country."
Most were coming from Asia but there were also some from South America and Europe.
Mr Stevenson said the South Island had had a similar problem about nine years ago - a high payout and a large number of farm conversions - but it was a cyclical issue.
"Good employees had the ability to negotiate inflated salaries and short supply of employees meant that farmers believed they had to pay these inflated salaries." he said.
"It took around two seasons for supply and demand to return to equilibrium as the payout dropped, but the after-effects meant that employees with inflated salaries were made redundant and wages dropped back to realistic levels."
Salaries would even out eventually, but in the interim he urged farmers not to be lured into paying too much.
He appreciated employers needed competent staff and said there was anecdotal evidence that a farm manned by a competent workforce would work 200 hours less per person per year than an identical farm staffed by a workforce that had been promoted above its ability.
"Not being able to to wait for the right employee when recruiting not only affects the efficiency of the farm but also affects the job satisfaction of other employees on-farm," he said.
A change in culture was needed among some employees.
There had been cases where an enthusiastic teenager had been led astray by older workmates, wasting enthusiasm and potential.